Post by UutIVvdPw7END0Ef on Oct 9, 2017 16:54:29 GMT

We were sitting by our campfire in the woods, keeping watch for the night. Everyone else in the party had gone to sleep, except Morrigan and I. Morrigan, the witch of the wilds that I met all those months ago. She was distrustful of people, including me and my companions, yet she joined me to fight the Darkspawn that emerged from underground to lay waste to humanity.

Despite her outward appearance of disdain towards others, she has come to be a good friend, saving my back hundreds of times. With her spirited eyes, sharp wit, and fluid movements as she summoned deadly lightning storms, she was…mesmerizing and surprisingly human, far from the monstrous “witch of the wilds” that I had heard about.

My ears were turning red, which I chalked up to the intensity of the flames near me. I wanted to tell her, but I didn’t know how she’d react. Now was as good of a time as any, I figured.

I right-clicked on Morrigan’s three-dimensional figure and my female elf character walked towards her, initiating a virtual conversation. I was already familiar with the romance mechanics of this game, Dragon Age: Origins, from talking to the other characters in the game. When I hit a certain number in their “approval” system, I could click on the “Romance” option. Yet, unlike those characters, no such option appeared for Morrigan on my screen.

Morrigan is straight. Well, designed to be, by a company of game developers and writers. It was realistic. It’s literally the societal norm. It made sense. Sort of.

Morrigan was blunt, independent and harsh, yet grows to care for others and trust them throughout the story. Maybe I saw in her some of the characteristics I admire in others. Maybe I saw some of myself. Whatever it was, Dragon Age’s Morrigan, a creation of code, writing, and voice acting, had given me role-playing experience where, through my female character, I was a woman interested in another woman, and I couldn’t do jack about it.

Writers seem to design video game characters along rigid archetypes of sexuality and gender. Of course, one does not simply choose who they love. If she’s a straight woman, then that’s that.

But, I can’t help but criticize this depiction of heterosexuality that almost seems compulsive: the writers restrict Morrigan to a heteronormative label that appears at odds with her upbringing. As witches, she and her mother are both persecuted by men who ordered to capture or kill them, forcing the two women to seek refuge in the woods.

The sole option of male-female romance limits Morrigan to loving and caring for someone she’d been taught to fear and distrust her entire life. There is no available way to display interest towards Morrigan as a female character, who might understand Morrigan better through similar experiences.

It’s not as if Dragon Age: Origins lacks representation (though many video games do), but even when characters divert from heterosexual norms, they’re relegated to oppressive and stereotypical pigeonholes. For instance, Leliana, the other young female character who can join you, is openly bisexual, but also a deceitful figure who once used her sexuality to covertly spy on nobles. Similarly, the male bisexual character, Zevran, was an orphan raised in a brothel and grew up to be an assassin for political figures. He often jokes about having used seduction in order to carry out his missions.

While Leliana and Zevran are written differently, their depiction pigeonholes bisexual people into the well-tread stereotypes as dangerous and sexually promiscuous. I do believe that the writers’ intentions were positive, since Leliana and Zevran are some of my favorite three-dimensional characters who divert from compulsive heterosexuality. While I revel in their complexity and the relatability of their internal moral battles, I wish they didn’t need a stereotypical backstory to try to explain their sexuality.

Even though in real life, my personality and identity are not dictated by lines of code, I’ve felt a similar restriction when it came to expressing romantic interest. My first times playing Dragon Age had coincided with my realization that I was crushing hard on a close female friend. While I had known for a while that I liked girls, it was the first time that I had felt confronted by the “unnaturalness” of my queer identity. I didn’t even know for sure if she was straight, but I was so fearful of her reaction to my “deviance” from the norm. I stayed quiet. Like in the game, there was no option for me.

Post by phoray on Oct 9, 2017 17:56:09 GMT

I think teh writers of all the characters have always said that the sexuality is chosen same time as writing the character. I don't think they decided Zev was bi and THEN decided "But what backstory could support such deviancy? why, I'll make him an assassin who boinks his targets right before murdering them! that'll explain that deviant bisexuality!"

Let's keep the classes and add a dual protagonist, eh?We want to out clever Solas, not out last his stupidity. #DA42020

Post by Gwydden on Oct 9, 2017 19:21:26 GMT

I find it... amusing how the writer complains that Leliana and Zevran’s sexuality appears much too rooted in their stereotypical backstories right after saying that Morrigan should be into women because she had rocky interactions with men growing up.

I would sympathize if she had criticized the game having more options for straight characters. As it is, she sounds no better than the guys who protest about lesbian characters not being available to them while implying Bioware owes them the virtual piece of ass of their choice.

Post by carefull on Oct 9, 2017 19:28:18 GMT

I think in DA:O they tried to provide a plausible "medieval'ish" plot having to do with Alistair's succession and the baby born to Morrigan, and that' why their romances are restricted to a male who can impregnate Morrigan and a female who can have acceptable marriage with Alistair and have his children. At the time, BioWARE only had tried three romances opened to either both male and female protagonist or same-sex, iirc. Juhani, Sky and Silk Fox.

DA2 opened all romances to everyone, but players bitterly complained, see the thread on this forum, about how sexuality is a part of the intrinsic flavor of the romances, and how they'd feel robbed if it is not opened to just one gender, so we got back to DA:O scheme with forcibly gated romances. I personally feel totally shafted by DA3, because one romance I want is not available to my PC, but I know there are plenty romances addressed to a female PC in general. I don't like the romance gates since playing DA2, other people do, and they are in the overwhelming majority, so I accept that BioWARE will do what the majority wants.

Post by Norstaera on Oct 13, 2017 15:22:32 GMT

I wonder, did the author of that article continue to try and get to know Morrigan better? Or did she decide it wasn't worth it without the romance and so miss out on the feelings of friendship and sisterhood Morrigan can develop for a female pc?

btw, Am I the only one who never felt Morrigan and Flemeth feared men? Distrust, dislike, disdain - all yes. (that could also go for all people, not just men)

As for gated romances, I admit I am in the majority of those who prefer that every romance option isn't wide open to everybody, not necessarily for only the reasons you may think. For the record, I prefer playing female, I prefer playing straight, and I prefer playing rogue or mage. I can see some of the question marks over your head as you wonder why I included class with gender and preference options but please bear with me. Prior to DAO, I'd played Morrowind and Oblivion, games I enjoyed but race and gender didn't matter much, story wise, and you could level up your skills in any combination of warrior-rogue-mage you desired. In DAO, you can't do that. The choices you make in the character creator, including origin, matter. You have companions who banter and bicker, who have distinct personalities, and you come to care (or not) for them individually.

I'm a pseudo-completionist, and I wanted every achievement available (got them on pc and ps3, thank you very much). This forced me to play as a male and to play as a mage and again as a warrior. I might have waited a long time to play as a mage otherwise, I was quite happy as a rogue, and so would have missed out on something I really enjoy. I still play DAO, usually female, but sometimes I'll play male whether I romance Morrigan or not. I think my rp is deeper and more satisfying because of having to make that decision.

In DA2, I appreciate the devs opening things up, romantically speaking. I don't mind their trying new things (except when they're seeing how ugly they can make hair) but I quickly realized I preferred the more gated approach. Sebastien doesn't really count since you either agree to a 'chaste' marriage or you have to wait until after the game is over and you're Viscount. His romance has no sense of fruition to me. My problem with the primary romances in DA2 being universally available is that they made my character creation choices less important. The romances themselves felt less special. "I'm playing as female today, who shall I romance? Anders, Fenris, Isabella, or Merrill?" "I'm playing as male today, who shall I romance? Anders, Fenris, Isabella, or Merrill?" Gender becomes more cosmetic in importance (and I am not downplaying the importance of good appearance options) than in terms of character or roleplay. Maybe that's a fault in me as a roleplayer, but that's how I feel.

When DAI was released, I was relieved to see not all romance options were open to every gender, or even every race. Now it once again mattered if I chose to be male or female. My first pt, in some ways a throw away pt, was a male elf who romanced Dorian. I didn't expect to like the Dorian romance as much as I did. So far I've only completed 5 pt's. My current one is a male Trevelyan romancing Cassandra, we'll see how that goes. I liked my female elf, but hated the Solas romance (not a fan of Solas before or after). I think the only reason I like my Cullenmance more is because I can play female, but I'll play a Dorian romance again, you betcha. I even have a character lined up. First, I'll finish Cassandra, then do Sera and Josephine. I suppose you didn't really need to know that but I'm not taking it back.

Post by phoray on Oct 13, 2017 18:59:06 GMT

But there are dialogue changes from the characters based on your gender.

Isabella is more possessive of a female hawke. Merril worries about the possibility of half breed babies with a male hawke. Fenris' compliments are different. And Anders is more open about his bisexuality with a male Hawke to signal he is quite open to flirtation (although I know about the whole bisexual erasure drama, I don't agree)

I very specifically play a Male Hawke with Isabella because I don't see possesiveness as preferable from her.I specifically play female so Merril doesn't have to worry about half breed babies.

Being female for Anders and Fenris is more about me then them though.

Let's keep the classes and add a dual protagonist, eh?We want to out clever Solas, not out last his stupidity. #DA42020

Post by carefull on Oct 13, 2017 20:52:10 GMT

Norstaera while on the surface gating adds to replayability value and draws attention to a character gender, it is restricting those very things as well. Particularly for players who do not replay a game multiple times. It is very easy for people who are interested enough in replaying a game 3+ times to talk about how they would create a protagonist for every romance and how it delights them.

However, playing a video-game is a repetitive process that takes a high number of hours. Not everyone has a luxury of investing hundreds of hours in doing Hinterlands over and over. I normally prefer to replay each game twice, once with a male, once with a female, and making drastically different decisions/taking different characters along to make the game as different as possible. Playing any game more than twice is a hard sell for me, it has to be a revelation of a cataclysmic proportions, or, like SWTOR tell an entirely different story for each character. There are so many games I would like to try in my lifetime... I really do not want to spend years on each game to play it in every possible way.

Given all that, I want each of my play-through to be awesome and different. Given that race, appearance and voicing of a protagonist do matter, one of the aspects of DA2 that I have enjoyed the most was that I could play a male Hawke (the female one's voice grated on my nerves) AND pick the romance I wanted to pursue (Anders). I was in awe when it dawned on me that I do not have to be a squeaky voiced female character with not so good looks to romance a male.

Come DAI, I loved how a female character was rendered and voiced! WUB! But once I have met the cast, the vagaries of taste so have it that I would have to play a Qunari male twice in a row to play with a romance I would enjoy, or play a female that would not romance anyone. Yes, the game offered a lots of choices, but that's how the cards fell out in the romantic department, either making me stay to the same gender protagonist 2/2 runs, or run without a romance, because I did not like anyone who'd romance a girl. It just so happened that both characters I would have liked to romance were gender gated to a male. And the game was not really offering much beyond a new romance on a second replay. So, if that was disappointing... no replay.

Post by Hanako Ikezawa on Oct 14, 2017 22:27:15 GMT

Templars can be women too. It's entirely possible and even likely that Morrigan wasn't exclusively hunted by male templars.

I agree but to be fair, this person only played Origins and all the Templars we talk to in that game are men so I can see why they could think it is a male-only organization. The first female Templar we meet is in the Awakening expansion.

Post by ComedicSociopathy on Oct 14, 2017 22:32:01 GMT

Templars can be women too. It's entirely possible and even likely that Morrigan wasn't exclusively hunted by male templars.

I agree but to be fair, this person only played Origins and all the Templars we talk to in that game are men so I can see why they could think it is a male-only organization. The first female Templar we meet is in the Awakening expansion.

Good point. Still, if the writer of this article just did a bit more research she'd find out that her central argument was kind of bunk.

Post by Hanako Ikezawa on Oct 14, 2017 22:37:54 GMT

I agree but to be fair, this person only played Origins and all the Templars we talk to in that game are men so I can see why they could think it is a male-only organization. The first female Templar we meet is in the Awakening expansion.

Good point. Still, if the writer of this article just did a bit more research she'd find out that her central argument was kind of bunk.

She also kind of whitewashes Morrigan quite a bit, which is an annoying.

I agree that the writer needed to do more research. For example they don't talk about the DA2 or DAI romances and how some of those smash stereotypes and instead just say all DA LGBT+ romances are.

Post by Walter Black on Oct 14, 2017 23:35:11 GMT

But there are dialogue changes from the characters based on your gender.

Isabella is more possessive of a female hawke. Merril worries about the possibility of half breed babies with a male hawke. Fenris' compliments are different. And Anders is more open about his bisexuality with a male Hawke to signal he is quite open to flirtation (although I know about the whole bisexual erasure drama, I don't agree)

I very specifically play a Male Hawke with Isabella because I don't see possesiveness as preferable from her.I specifically play female so Merril doesn't have to worry about half breed babies.

Being female for Anders and Fenris is more about me then them though.

Maybe it was a bug, but I romanced Merril with a male Hawke twice (one Friendship, one Rival) and never got any dialogue about possible half blood children.

Post by carefull on Oct 15, 2017 0:11:07 GMT

Good point. Still, if the writer of this article just did a bit more research she'd find out that her central argument was kind of bunk.

She also kind of whitewashes Morrigan quite a bit, which is an annoying.

I agree that the writer needed to do more research. For example they don't talk about the DA2 or DAI romances and how some of those smash stereotypes and instead just say all DA LGBT+ romances are.

She is so late to playing the game that the article sounds really, really, really dated. In 2017, it should have been: "Cassandra did not love me back!", not Morrigan.

But I think it was really about BioWARE, Morrigan or stereotypes, it was about her being a disappointed gamer that did not get the romance she wanted. That I can relate to, and have seen sentiments like that for twenty years, n matter what gender and orientation of a player is, with the chars either being non-roms, or gated. It's nothing new.

Post by generalxiv on Oct 15, 2017 22:11:57 GMT

I feel exactly the same way about Morrigan. Shes the ONE BioWare romance I really actually want. Isabela and Merrill are both amazing but... *sigh* Morrigan.

Its quite difficult for me to feel that Im... idk, enjoying the romantic subplots in DAO when theres someone who would be basically one of the most perfect romance options for me in any game right there but I cant romance her. As much as I like Leliana, she feels quite bland in comparison and I feel that Morrigan is the better and more interesting character as a whole.

I think that Dragon Age 2 had better f/f romance options, Isabela is awesome... I mean shes a slutty pirate and I like that. I also like elves, and I enjoy the Merrill romance. Seras romance content in DAI was awesome but I felt she was one of the weaker romance options in the series (as much as I love her), but the actual content she got was the best

But still, no character has come close to how much I fangirl over Morrigan. Theres literally no romance option I want more in any video game ive ever played. I think Dragon Age 2 had a good system because out of the party I could actually romance who I wanted to romance (in fact, I had difficulty choosing ) but I tend to be more supportive of having set sexual orientations than everyone being bisexual because I feel it makes the characters more real. But id like it if having set sexual orientations didnt actually try to work against me and stop me from romancing the options I want at the same time. So basically im trying to please the author side of me which thinks that characters have to come first and the side of me which wants to make out with all the sexy shapeshifting witches at the same time... which is kinda impossible